House Training?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I have two Westie puppies (about 7 months) who are doing very well in their house training. Currently they are placed in a play pen during the day when we are at work, free when we get home, and crated for bed (eventually we’d like them to be free 100%). The problem is when we are at home and they are free. When they need to go, they walk to the back door (which is where we go out to go potty), which is great! Except that if we don’t see them right away they end up peeing in the house. They don’t bark or come get us or anything. I’d be happy to let them out when they ask but we don’t always know they are at the back door. We tried jingle bells, but they scared them. What can I do to get them to verbalize their need?
Related West Highland White Terrier posts:
hi
Well the first step is to teach your dog to bark. So listed below are those steps.
1. Hold a particular toy, such as a ball or squeak toy that causes your dog to bark. Give the command BARK or SPEAK.
2. When your dog barks say, GOOD.
3. Give him the toy or food as a reward and praise him.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until your dog understands the command to bark.
5. When your dog understands the command, command him to bark.
6. After three barks say, QUIET or SILENCE or any other word(s) to command him not to bark. Praise and reward him with the toy.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until he understands the command.
8. Instead of using a toy, have someone knock on the door and repeat steps 2 through 7, rewarding him with praise and affection when he succeeds.
After you have taught your dog top bark. the next step is to teach them to bark when they have to go out. So
1. Take them to the door and say BARK, once they do, reward and take out side
2. Keep doing this untill you can take them to the door and they bark automatically.
3. Sounds easy, but it is time consuming, and you have to make sure you do it each and every time.
In The meantime, what you may want to do is to not let them out of your sight while you are home. I keep a leash on all my dogs while I am home so I can take them with me whereever I go in the house, and or correct them as needed.
Hope this helps
Bob
You shouldn’t use jingle bells because they could get their toes caught. I use a dinner bell and when they are first little, I ring the bell, when they get a little bigger I use their paw and have them hit the bell, and now they ring the bell. You could try a wind chime, or something else you could tie to the door to make a noise. At 7-months-old you should be practicing being good in the house, so while they are getting more freedom, you also have to watch what they are getting into. You may have had something that all your other dogs ignored, and suddenly this puppy destroys it. You need to see the things at their level that they might be interested in. I think I would try a different bell or something. My dogs love the bells because ringing them annoys me. ha ha Hang in there.
The key to rock-solid housetraining is to start the day your pup comes home and stick with the program. Using a crate is the easiest method. (For older dogs, see housetraining adult dogs). In a nutshell, here are the basic steps:http://tinyurl.com/3o2rse
We took our puppy to Pet Smart beginning training classes. It was the best thing we ever did. Our dog is very smart and is very well trained. If he needs to go he will walk up to us and whimper or do a small bark. If you don’t have a pet smart near you… then while they are young you have to pay attention to their needs as if they are real babies. You must reward them when they do go out in enough time and this will cause them to want to get your attention when you don’t see them. If they are afraid bells then try something like poppy paper (like moving wrap) to lay down by the door so you will hear them when they go to the door.